I wish this would have happened, so at least I could talk myself into the team *trying* to contend this season. It's just a gut bunch to see Brad take a hammer to a contending roster with two in their prime stars.
I could justify trading Brown -- even for that terrible return -- if we had actually improved the team and remained a contender. Instead, we decided that money was better allocated to Jordan Walsh and Ron Harper, Jr.
It seems bizarre to me that we've committed to paying Harper more than the minimum this season and next. I would have preferred Derozan, who we could have signed for less of a cap hit. Hell, we could have fielded a full 15-man roster without going over the tax under those circumstances.
Queta / Robinson / Garza
Tatum / Walsh / Cenac
DeRozan / Hauser / Hugo
George / Scheierman / Brown
White / Pritchard / Conley
With the final roster spot, we sign Bruce Brown (although he has to agree to sign after the first week of the season because otherwise we'd be about $40,000 over the tax.)
I'm just torturing myself, but that team is contender, and we'd be adding durable guys that played 79 and 82 games last season.
You've said a few times this summer that if the Celtics had kept Brown and improved the roster elsewhere, then they could contend. And I know you're not just venting, it's obvious you believe it!
I'm confused, though, because it feels like all recent evidence suggests otherwise.
Last year they blew a 3-1 lead in the first round. We could be charitable and say Tatum was still coming back from injury and it wasn't representative of what we will see this upcoming year.
Two years prior, they lost to the Knicks in the second round and were clearly the worse team in that series. They blew multiple huge leads, couldn't adjust within the same game, etc. Again, charitable read would mention Tatum's injury, but they were on their way to being down 3-1 even before Tatum got hurt.
Not to mention the fact - which I believe you would agree with, because we both think they need to upgrade the coaching staff - that Joe isn't the quality of coach who can elevate his team come playoff time.
In my opinion, the "your turn, my turn" version of the Celtics was never going to work. And Brad seems to believe that "serious depth" is the modern NBA's third superstar. We'll see if that's true, but I really don't think the Tatum/Brown pairing with Joe at the helm was going to ever get over the hump again.
I think that there's plenty of recent evidence that this team could contend with the Tatum/Brown core. That includes:
* A title in 2024 (i.e., two years ago)
* Six trips to the ECF in eight seasons
* Finals in 2022 with Marcus Smart as our third best scorer (14.4 ppg)
* Top-two seed every season since 2022
Counter-examples:
* 2025 second round, when our starting center had a mystery illness and Brown and Jrue were both banged up.
* 2026 first round in a bridge year when Tatum was still recovering and when the entire team turtled in the playoffs
Which data set tells you more about the quality of that duo?
The 2025 team won 61 games and beat Orlando in five games. They were a contender, regardless of a poor series when 3/5 of the starters were hurt before Tatum went down.
The easiest way for this team to improve would have been to sign Robinson, bring back Brown, and improve the coaching staff. We also had the financial means to sign at least one vet minimum free agent such as Derozan, Bruce Brown, Brandon Mitchell, etc.
That team could have competed for a title.
Topic: A move that would help this season (Read 2140 times)